Currently, standards bodies such as 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) are developing standards specifications for E-UTRA (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) systems. (3GPP may be contacted via http://www.3gpp.org/.) At present, OFDMA is a strong candidate for 3GPP Evolution downlink technology, and a frequency reuse factor of ‘1’ is being considered. However, with such a frequency reuse plan, a control channel in one sector or cell may experience interference from various channels in other sectors or cells. This could result in significant performance degradation at sector/cell edges. To achieve the necessary level of reliability, the common control channels of such high reuse systems are expected to consume a relatively large amount of the systems' limited bandwidth and power. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an improved method and apparatus for conveying control channel information, which could reduce the drain on system resources, particularly for high-reuse OFDMA systems.
Specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below with reference to FIGS. 1-4. Both the description and the illustrations have been drafted with the intent to enhance understanding. For example, the dimensions of some of the figure elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements, and well-known elements that are beneficial or even necessary to a commercially successful implementation may not be depicted so that a less obstructed and a more clear presentation of embodiments may be achieved. In addition, unless specifically indicated, the order and grouping of signaling is not a limitation of other embodiments that may lie within the scope of the claims
Simplicity and clarity in both illustration and description are sought to effectively enable a person of skill in the art to make, use, and best practice the present invention in view of what is already known in the art. One of skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made to the specific embodiments described below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative and exemplary rather than restrictive or all-encompassing, and all such modifications to the specific embodiments described below are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.